Bearsville Center, including the iconic Bearsville Theater and the accompanying Utopia building and restaurants, is for sale for $7.9 million.
The listing by SVN/Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty for $7.995 million comes just six and a half years after Lizzie Vann purchased the property for $2.5 million in September 2019 and invested millions into resurrecting it from disrepair and making changes to the property. Utopia Studios, Bear Cantina, Tinker Street Tavern and Tibet Pho would remain, essentially making the property turn-key for the purchaser.
The roofs on some buildings, including the theater, were rotting. Burst pipes caused water damage, and the Sawkill Creek ran through the basement of what was the Bear Café. The Utopia building was leaning due to structural damage. Nearly every inch of wood in the theater was sanded and refinished. Renovations in the other buildings were necessary after years of neglect.
“My job here is done,” Vann said via email.
“The Bearsville Center is in perfect shape, thriving with concerts, housing, dining and a world-class recording studio. We can now turn our undivided attention to Woodstock’s former library and funeral home site, with a vision of creating an in-town park, adding affordable housing and so much more.”
That grand vision is awaiting Town Board approval of a zoning amendment to correct zoning maps that incorrectly bisect the property, making part of it residential and part commercial.
Vann said all tenants at Bearsville Center, including Utopia Studios, Bear Cantina, Tinker Street Tavern and Tibet Pho, would have “water-tight” leases that are unaffected by a change in ownership. That protection essentially makes the property turn-key for the purchaser.
Vann said she spent $6.5 million on the property’s transformation, in addition to the $2.5 million to purchase it in 2019, which disproves the notion shared on social media that she is flipping it for a massive profit.
“I am an ethical developer who cares about her community. Because of the work my team did, Bearsville is a well-cared-for, invested-in and popular part of Woodstock that will be successful and contribute to the culture of the town for a long time to come,” Vann said.
“My focus has not been on profiting from our vision. I am grateful for the many successes that we have accomplished here and deeply believe that I have a responsibility to give back, especially to the Woodstock community that I love.”
Vann explained commercial properties are valued not on supply and demand but largely based on their potential to generate income.
Over the years, Vann has focused on long-term tenants, including concert promoter Peter Shapiro of Dayglo Presents to run the Bearsville Theater. Pete Caigan has turned Todd Rundgren’s former Utopia soundstage into a state-of-the-art recording studio, and the Lemus family has operated the Bear Cantina.
Vann purchased the property just three days before it was set to be sold at a tax auction, and six months before the COVID pandemic. Vann and her team contended with collapsing walls and roofs, and structures requiring mold remediation due to water infiltration. Renovations included a mile of underground trenching and replacement of all plumbing, electrical and heating systems in all six buildings.
The listing is the start of a new chapter for Vann, whose next endeavor is a concept for adaptive reuse of a large area made up of the former Lasher Funeral Home and former Woodstock Public Library. Her concept includes a sustainable park, with the former library repurposed as a workspace and business incubator. Distributed among the former library and Lasher properties will be several units of affordable housing.
During a November presentation to the Woodstock Planning Board, Vann said the project will be funded not through borrowed money or grants but through “recycled money.”
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